http://media.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/p/content.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/SINCLAIR_NOE-SEG_1-03-08-2016.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:16 — 6.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSSFinancial Review by Sinclair Noe for 03-08-2016 DOW – 109 = 16,964 SPX – 22 = 1979 NAS -59 = 4648 10 Y – .07 = 1.83% OIL – 1.67 = 36.23 GOLD – 6.50 = 1261.50 Small business confidence declined further in February as lingering concerns about sales growth and profits hurt capital spending and hiring plans. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its small business optimism index dropped one point to a reading of 92.9 last month, with none of the index’s components showing an increase. The index decreased 1.3 percentage points in January. Spending and hiring plans weakened a bit as expectations for growth in real sales volumes fell. Earnings trends worsened a bit as owners continued to report widespread gains in worker compensation while holding the line on price increases. China’s February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, days after top leaders at the National People’s Congress sought to reassure investors. Exports fell 25% from a year earlier, the biggest drop since May 2009, while imports slumped 13%, leaving a trade surplus of $32 billion. It’s easy to blame Chinese New Year distortions, but the numbers point to bigger economic problems. Japan’s 10-year yield extended its push into negative territory, dropping to an all-time low of minus 0.12 percent, meaning almost three-quarters of Japanese government bonds currently offer yields at or below, zero percent. …

http://media.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/p/content.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/SINCLAIR_NOE-SEG_1-01-29-2016.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:16 — 6.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSSFinancial Review by Sinclair Noe for 01-29-2016 DOW + 396 = 16,466 SPX + 46 = 1940 NAS + 107 = 4613 10 Y – .05 = 1.93% OIL + .46 = 33.68 GOLD + 2.80 = 1118.80 SILV + .02 = 14.34 It’s Friday and also the last trading day of the month. For the week, the Dow gained 2.3%, the S&P added 1.7% and the Nasdaq increased 0.5%. That left the Dow down 5.5% for the month, or a loss of 959 points. The Nasdaq lost 7.9%, or 394 points in January, its largest monthly loss since May 2010. The S&P was down 103 points, or 5%, although at one point last week the S&P was down 11% since the start of the year. An index of US Treasury bonds returned 1.8% for January, which has been the best month of the year for bonds, at least over the past few years. The yield on the 10 year note dropped 24 basis points for the month. Gold and silver shared the safe haven spotlight with Treasuries. Gold gain $58.60, or 6% for the month. Silver added 53-cents or 3.8%, year-to-date. The dollar has gained just over 1% year-to-date, but is still below November highs. Even with today’s gain, oil closed out the month of January with a loss of $3.37 or 9%. The U.S. economy expanded at a slower …

http://media.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/p/content.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/SINCLAIR_NOE-SEG_1-10-30-2015.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:16 — 6.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSSFinancial Review by Sinclair Noe for 10-30-2015 DOW – 92 = 17,663 SPX – 10 = 2079 NAS – 20 = 5053 10 YR YLD – .04 = 2.14% OIL + .37 = 46.43 GOLD – 4.50 = 1142.00 SILV – .12 = 15.56 The Senate officially passed the budget deal this morning, averting debt default next week or a government shutdown in December. The agreement will increase spending by $80 billion above sequestration caps for military and domestic programs and lift the debt ceiling through March 2017. The House approved the deal on Wednesday and President Obama will now sign it into law. The cost of employing the average U.S. worker sped up in the third quarter after a record-low increase in the spring. The employment cost index advanced a seasonally adjusted 0.6% from July to September after a 0.2% gain in the second quarter. Wages – some 70% of employment costs – rose 0.6% in the third quarter. Benefits increased 0.5%. Over the past 12 months, employment costs have risen an unadjusted 2%. This is an old story. Despite some ups and downs over the decades, US household incomes have been roughly stagnant for about 30 years. Even though wages have been stagnant, consumers keep consuming. Core prices, which strip out food and energy costs, rose 0.1% from August and are up 1.3% from a year earlier. Consumer spending rose …

http://media.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/p/content.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/SINCLAIR_NOE-SEG_1-07-31-2015.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:16 — 6.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSSFinancial Review by Sinclair Noe DOW – 56 = 17,689 SPX – 4 = 2103 NAS – 0.5 = 5128 10 YR YLD – .07 = 2.20% OIL – 1.64 = 46.88 GOLD + 7.10 = 1096.40 SILV + .04 = 14.87 For the week the S&P 500 index gained 1.2%, while posting a 2% gain for the month of July. The Dow Industrials finished the week with a 0.7% gain which lifted the monthly gain to 0.4%. The Nasdaq was up 0.8% for the weeks and 2.9% for the month. For the month, the yield on the 10 year Treasury dropped 13 basis points. Spot gold dropped 6% for the month and silver was down 5%. The big decline came in oil prices: down 12.59 per barrel or 21% for the month. Consumer sentiment fell to a final July reading of 93.1 from a final June level of 96.1. For context, the consumer-sentiment gauge averaged 86.9 over the year leading up to the recession. After adjusting for changes in prices, just three in 10 surveyed thought their chances were better than 50 percent for real income gains over the next five years. Call it the voice of experience. An index that measures the price of US labor slowed sharply in the second quarter, easing fears of inflation and signaling the labor market may not be as healthy as the low unemployment …

http://media.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/p/content.blubrry.com/eatthebankers/SINCLAIR_NOE-SEG_1-12-01-2014.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:17 — 6.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSSFinancial Reivew by Sinclair Noe DOW – 51 = 17,776 SPX – 14 = 2053 NAS -64 = 4727 10 YR YLD + .02 = 2.22% OIL + 3.22 = 69.37 GOLD + 44.30 = 1213.80 SILV + .88 = 16.56 Last week I said that you can never eat too much pie. I would like to amend that statement. That was a long weekend. While we were gone, the Dow hit another record hit on Friday, the 31st of the year. Dow stocks are still up about 7% for 2014; with all these record high closes, you might think it would be more, and you might think you could just throw a dart at any of the Dow 30 stocks and hit a winner. Unfortunately, not all Dow stocks were able to revel in the year’s rallies. In fact, nearly one-third of the market’s companies had negative returns this year. Big names that are down, including: Boeing – down about 7% despite fairly strong sales of airplanes, IBM – down 13% as they try to figure out what their business is, General Electric – is off about 6%, United Technologies – down about 3%, and Chevron – down about 6% for the year as oil prices have been sliding. The oil companies are about the only ones not happy with lower oil prices. On Thursday, as we were enjoying turkey and way too …